The challenge of prayer (Gen 25:19-26)

Most of us reading Genesis are familiar with the story of Sarah’s childlessness, but few may remember that Rebekah was barren, too, and we hear little of her painful journey. We are simply told that Isaac prayed, and she miraculously conceived (Gen 25:21). Yet, the note about Isaac’s age at marriage and Rebekah’s pregnancy reveals that twenty years elapsed in-between (Gen 25:20, 26)! That raises some questions about prayer. For one thing, Isaac would have known God’s promise to his father, so if this is God’s will, why is there need for prayer? Conversely, if something is not God’s will, can prayer change anything? If not, why pray at all? If so, then how does that square with God’s sovereignty and what if we pray for the wrong thing and God grants it? To evade these confusing questions, some argue that prayer is really about changing us and there is some truth to this, but Scripture also clearly states that Rebekah conceived because God responded to Isaac’s prayer (v.21). Intercessory prayer is meant to achieve something in the outside world.

The power of prayer

Isaac seems a largely passive figure in the patriarchal narrative, yet he is a model of persistent prayer here. He had the advantage that he held God’s promise of descendants, true, but he had no way of knowing whether it would come through Rebekah or another wife. Perhaps, though, his parents’ efforts through Hagar and the conflict that resulted from it deterred him from taking similar action. Also, the circumstances of how Rebekah came to be his wife would have convinced him that God had chosen her for him. Whatever his reasons for acting as he does, Isaac responds to the challenge he faces simply with prayer. We get no explanation about the larger questions around prayer’s effectiveness and God’s sovereignty, only a testimony that prayer has the power to change things because God responds to it. At the same time, God’s sovereign power to bring about His will is never in doubt, either. Tim Keller helpfully teases out the implications of holding on to both these aspects.

If we believed that God was in charge and our actions meant nothing, it would lead to discouraged passivity. If on the other hand we really believed that our actions changed God’s plan­­—it would lead to paralyzing fear. If both are true, however, we have the greatest incentive for diligent effort, and yet we can always sense God’s everlasting arms under us. In the end, we can’t frustrate God’s good plans for us (cf. Jer 29:11).[1]

Fulfilment and difficulty

Rebekah, then, conceives, and this painful twenty years of waiting and the struggle with barrenness is once again a reminder that God’s people owe their existence to God’s power to bring life out of death. However, the difficulties do not end there, and this is a point to remember. Sometimes God answers our prayers, but the joy of fulfilment can be overshadowed by further challenges. Nevertheless, this need not mean that God is not in it. Being the woman of initiative as Rebekah is, she seeks God for understanding possibly wondering like we would in the face of difficulty: if this is from God, why do I have to face all this pain and suffering (Gen 25:22-23)? While we are not told the mechanism whereby she receives an answer, the point is that the Lord responds to her as He does to us when we seek Him.

Our attitude to prayer

This episode challenges our attitudes to prayer. Are we persistent in prayer or do we give up easily when we see no results? Have we prayed for twenty years for anything? Have we not prayed at all thinking that if it is God’s will, it would happen anyway? Have we given up praying because we felt discouraged that it is perhaps not God’s will after all or despaired when the fulfilment brought further challenges? It is possible, of course, that something we earnestly desired is not the Lord’s plan for us, but then we can honestly seek Him to know. May we pray confidently knowing that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayer and that our prayers make a difference to what happens in the world.

---

[1] Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (London: Hodder, 2014), 225.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others.